Valley Streamers take stock after Sandy

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Piles of people’s possessions, most of them to be thrown out, were a common sight on Hungry Harbor Road. In Mill Brook, ruined furniture, carpets and electronics, and plastic bags full of garbage lined some streets, including Heatherfield and Southgate roads and Fieldstone Lane, which had storm-surge flooding. Trucks from Sanitary District No. 1 were driving around, hauling away the refuse.

Ron Ranzer, who has lived on Heatherfield Road since 1992, said the garbage out at the curb on Monday was actually from the second round of cleaning. He said he’d only had about four inches of water in his home, and was luckier than some of his neighbors, who had a few feet. Many people were removing wood, sheetrock and doors that were damaged by the saltwater, which rose up from Jamaica Bay and the streams that inspired the community’s name.

Ranzer said that his car in the garage was fine, but his vehicle in the driveway was damaged. While it started, he said, he didn’t know what kind of electrical damaged it might have suffered. In his home, he had to throw out couches, carpeting and a treadmill. The extent of the damage to his washing machine, dryer and boiler wouldn’t be known until the power came back on.

“You make the best of it,” Ranzer said. “You can always replace stuff.”

That was Mohammed Ullah’s thinking as well. Ullah had watched last week as a village crew cut up a tree that fell on top of two cars in the driveway of his Stuart Road home. Nonetheless, he was grateful that his home was spared and his family was safe. “I’m not upset, because it could have been worse,” he said. “I have little kids in the house.”

Several trees on Ullah’s block fell, including two that landed on homes. Al Thiell said that all of them came down in a 20-minute stretch on Oct. 29, the result of a few powerful wind gusts.

Village continues cleanup

Mayor Ed Fare reported that as of Monday, village work crews had cleared just about every tree that fell onto a village street. He said that was a priority, so LIPA crews would have access to every road to restore electricity to homes.